8-3, including a second-place finish
in the Inter-Tri County League upper
tier with a 5-2 mark. The Clippers
advanced to the state playoffs for the
fifth time in six years. They were 2-1 in
games decided by six points or less.

Bob Spaite enters his 19th season as
head coach with a record of 131-64,
three Tri-County League titles and nine
state playoff appearances. He has a
career head coaching record of 145-984, which includes five seasons at
Southern Local.

The Clippers lost three-year starting
quarterback and career rushing leader
Austin Barbato, but veterans Britton
Steiginga and Brandon Hacker return to
carry the load in the backfield.
“We have an excellent core of offensive linemen, running backs and wide
receivers,” Spaite said. “We are inexperienced at quarterback and have zero
depth on the offensive line.”

Basic defensive formation
4-4 pressure and 4-3

Defensive outlook

The Clipper return seven of top nine
tacklers from a defense that held opponents to less than 75 yards rushing in

six games last season.
“The strengths are attitude and tradition, plus veteran outside linebackers,
inside linebackers and free safety as
well as three starting defensive linemen
return,” Spaite said. “We have very little experience at outside linebacker and
cornerback.”

“We’re going to have to
play teams like we would
in the upper tier, so
everyone is going to give
us their best shot.”

Journal Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA
—
The
Columbiana Clippers are preparing for
their first season in the Inter-Tri
County League lower tier.
Columbiana and Jackson-Milton are
switching places in the ITCL due to
school enrollment figures.
“I’m not against it,” Columbiana
coach Bob Spaite said. “There’s pluses
and minuses. It’s exciting playing new
people. I think that keeps you fresh and
sharp. I wouldn’t mind playing in the
lower tier for a couple of years.”
It looks to be a one-year deal for the
Clippers. Columbiana and Southern
Local are expected to move into the
upper tier next season, while JacksonMilton and Mineral Ridge will go to
the lower tier.
“It’s going to be different without
Columbiana in the upper tier,”
Crestview senior Nick Blower said. “I
think it’s better with them. It’s more of
a challenge. It makes us work harder.”
“It’s going to be real different
because the teams they’re playing,
we’re not going to be playing,”
Crestview senior Kaleb Baker said.
After six seasons being a perennial
contender in the ITCL upper tier,
Columbiana is expected to be one of
the top teams in the lower tier from the
start.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but
we’ve got to step up and take that challenge,” Wellsville senior Seth Martin
said.
Columbiana is expected to challenge
defending league champion and state
semifinalist Western Reserve along
with Southern Local for the top spot.
“It is what it is,” Columbiana senior
Brandon Hacker said. “We’re going to
have to play teams like we would in the
upper tier, so everyone is going to give
us their best shot.”
Columbiana is familiar with some of
the teams in the lower tier from its days
in the Tri-County League and, before
that, the Inter-County League.
“We’re familiar with some of those
guys,” Spaite said. “It’s been six years
since we’ve played some of them.

BRANDON HACKER,
COLUMBIANA SENIOR

Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer

Columbiana seniors Brandon Hacker (left) and Britton Steiginga will lead
the Clippers in their first season in the Inter-Tri County League lower tier.

We’ve scrimmaged some of them.
“You’ve got to build files. It’s been
six years since we’ve played some of
them and there’s been, obviously, some
coaching changes. There’s not a history to rely on.”
Columbiana will open ITCL lower
tier play by hosting Wellsville on Sept.
14.
“It should be a little different,”
Steiginga said. “It’s still the same
approach come game time. We’ve been
preparing the same way we’ve always
been preparing.”
“I just like playing the game,”
Hacker said. “The upper tier, I definitely like that. But I’ve never played the
teams in the lower tier, so we’ll see
what it’s like.”
A lot of people in the upper tier
would like to see the Clippers stay with
them.

“It’s always different when they
change it up on us,” Springfield senior
Alex Wharry said. “We’ve been playing Columbiana for years. We’ve
grown accustomed to looking forward
to that game. It takes a little bit out of

our season not being able to play them
this year.”
Columbiana is staying close to the
ITCL upper tier, opening the season by
hosting rivals Crestview and East
Palestine in the first two weeks.
“We’re really just getting prepared
for week one,” Steiginga said. “We’re
not looking past that right now.”
It only appears to be a one-year
move for Columbiana in the lower tier.
“What the league has decided is
we’ll look at the numbers this year and,
if they stay the way they are, we’ll go
back up and we’ll play Crestview again
at home, but later in the year,” Spaite
said.
You would think most in the upper
tier will be pulling for the Clippers to
do well this season just to show the
strength of the upper tier.
“I think our program has had a pretty good run in the 19 years I’ve been
here,” Spaite said. “I’m sure there are
some people who want us to lose every
one. I think there will be some people
rooting for us, too.”

played in years and some we have never
played.
“While this is just an educated guess,
certainly Western Reserve would
appear to be the early favorite. Coach
Hake has built one of the better
Division VI programs in the state.
Wellsville, under Dave Skinner and
Southern Local, under Coach Skrinjar,
have put together programs that truly
look like they could make a serious run.
Leetonia is the one team we are most
familiar with and their numbers are up,
and no matter what the situation is they
will play Columbiana with reckless
abandon. McDonald has strong tradition and when we used to scrimmage
and play them, they were one of the
most physical teams we played. I hon-

2012 Outlook

Changing tiers in the Inter-Tri
County League expects to be the only
change for Columbiana, which has
gone 15 straight seasons without a losing season.
“After the past six seasons in the
ITCL upper tier, we will be moving into
unchartered waters in the lower tier of
the ITCL,” Spaite said. “This will be all
new with some teams we haven’t

ZZAAPP!!

“GOOD LUCK, KIDS!”

GRAFT
ELECTRIC INC.
www.graftelectric.com

Hours: Mon.-Fri.: 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

3 3 0-4 82-3 74 2

HAVE A GREAT SEASON!
“You
“You oughta
oughta be
be
in
in pictures”
pictures”

Columbiana’s Britton Steiginga (left) tries to slow down Kirtland’s Damon
Washington in the Division V state playoffs last season. Washington is the
top returning player from the state champion Hornets.

COLUMBIANA,

Morning Journal/Ron Firth

Continued from Page 6A

estly know very little about Lowellville
and Sebring.”
Columbiana will find out where they
stand early as the Clippers open against
upper tier rivals Crestview and East
Palestine.
“We open with a tough, physical
perennial Division V power and our
biggest rival, Crestview,” Spaite said.
“Coach Cusick has established the
Rebels as truly one of the top top 15s
Division V programs in the state. It is a
home game for us and should be a playoff atmosphere.

Our thermostat
is ALWAYS
set on
QUALITY!!!
New Waterford, Ohio

330-457-2562
www.NdcHeating.com

OH.LIC.
#23635

“Next is East Palestine, our oldest
rival who always is very physical
against us. then we finish our nonleague scheduled by traveling to
Steubenville Harding Stadium to take
on the tradition-rich program of
Catholic Central.”

Come
to the
Country
TOWN ‘N COUNTRY

Garden Center

Come see the all new Town & Country
Don’t forget Christmas is
just around the corner.

BESTOFLUCK,
CLIPPERS!

13889 Woodworth Rd. (St. Rt. 165) • New Springfield, Ohio

330-549-3781
www.tncns.com

Columbiana’s Jacob Theil (right) celebrates with teammate Mike Buzzard
after scoring a touchdown against United last season.

season in school history. The Rebels
advanced to the state playoffs a fourth
season in a row. They have won 15
straight league games.

Head Coach

Paul Cusick enters his 14th season as
head coach with a record of 102-42,
eight league titles and nine state playoff
appearance. He was the Morning
Journal All-Area Coach of the Year and
the Northeast Inland District Coach of
the Year. He has a career record of 11064, which includes three seasons at
Leetonia.

Eleven, including five starters on
offense and two starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Spread.

Offensive outlook

The Rebels return five starters from a
team that set a school record with 531
points last season. Nick Blower is back
after running for 1,872 yards last year,
while Collin Gilbert takes over at quarterback after being the Rebels’ leading
receiver as a sohomore.
“We lost four offensive linemen, two
receivers and the quarterback to gradu-

ation,” Cusick said. “We have players
that have game experience at those
positions, but not starting experience. If
we can mature at those positions, we’ll
have a chance to be competitive on the
offensive side of the ball. We do return
several players that rotated at the skilled
positions, so these players will have to
step up their leadership abilities.”

Basic defensive formation
4-4.

Defensive outlook

“We return only two starters on the
defensive side of the ball,” Cusick said.
“We will be relatively inexperienced,
but we do have guys that contributed
last season. Our strength should be our
overall defensive team speed and athletSee CRESTVIEW, Page 10A

“We’ve seen players come
through Minerva, like
Drew Prendergast —
small guys with big
hearts. A big heart is
what makes you
successful in any area of
life. It definitely applies
to football.”

Journal Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA — Opponents can
only overlook diminutive running backs
Nick Blower of Crestview and Britton
Steiginga of Columbiana for so long.
“Until they play them and see how
much speed they really do have,”
Columbiana linebacker Brandon
Hacker said.
What the 5-foot-7 senior standouts
lack in size, they make up for with
speed and determination.
“They’re both absolutely electric,”
Columbiana coach Bob Spaite said.
“When either one of them touches the
ball on any play, in any situation, they
can go. They’ve got great speed and
great instincts.”
“They’re real fast,” Crestview linebacker Kaleb Baker said. “You might
be stronger than them, but you’ve got to
be as fast as them.”
The numbers Blower and Steiginga
put up are much bigger than their size.
“Everyone looks at their size,”
Hacker said. “They say their small, they
must not be good. They work at it.
They’re good for a reason. Their speed
kills.”
“Both of them are hard-nosed kids,”
Crestview coach Paul Cusick said.
“They are very similar. They play with
a lot of passion and are explosive.”
No one in the Inter-Tri County
League underestimate two of the
league’s biggest threats.
“I’m small, but they know my
speed,” Blower said. “That helps me
out a lot.”
“I’ve always been a little small, but it
doesn’t really make a difference on the
field,” Steiginga said. “Because of the

JAKE RILEY,
MINERVA QUARTERBACK

Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer

Columbiana’s Britton Steiginga (left) and Crestview’s Nick Blower (right),
who are featured on the cover, are towered over by Minerva’s 6-foot-3
quarterback Jake Riley.

speed, they can’t underestimate you.”
Blower led the Rebels to a schoolrecord 11 wins and a fourth straight
Inter-Tri County League upper tier title
last season.

GOOD LUCK!
State Rt. 14 • Columbiana, Ohio

330-482-2339

KELLY OIL
PRODUCTS

•Home Heating Fuel
•Kerosene
•Motor Oil
•Gasoline
•Greases

•Diesel Fuel
•Antifreeze
•Hydraulic

330-482-9552

GO
REBELS!

“You look at Nick on film, he’s so little and you think he can’t do anything,”

COLUMBIANA
SELF STORAGE
330-482-STOR (7867)

St. Rt. 14 at The Columbiana Industrial Park•Columbiana, Ohio

Crestview coach Paul Cusick said. “But
we don’t care how big they are on the
outside. It’s how big of a heart you
have.”
Blower averaged 10.6 yards per
carry as he ran for 1,872 yards and 18
touchdowns last season.
“The thing that absolutely astounds
me is how hard Blower hits the hole,”
Spaite said. “In a football uniform, he’s
full speed on his first step. That’s rare.
He’s a very special back,”
See BIG IMPACT, Page 18A

ic abiliy, but we will be young. We
need to replace three starters on the
defensive line, three at the linebacker
position, and we will have three new
starters in the secondary. Our defense
will need to mature in a hurry to be
competitive throughout the season.”

in the ITCL upper tier as the next group
of Rebels get their turn to leave their
mark.
The Rebels have won 18 of their last
19 regular-season games and 26 of
their last 27 league games. Look for
those streaks to keep going this season.
“The Inter-Tri County League is a
great showcase for small-school football in our area,” Cusick said. “From
top to bottom, the ITCL looks to be
tremendously competitive. There will
be no easy wins in this league.
“The top three teams in our tier are
South Range, Mineral Ridge and
United.”
Crestview has won 40 games over
the last four seasons.
“I really don’t know where we’ll fall
into the hierarchy of the league,”
Cusick said. “We have graduated a ton
of key players over the last two seasons,
so we just want to be competitive from
week to week. Our non-league schedule
will definitely test us as a football team
and we better mature early.”

2-8, including a 1-6 mark in the
Inter-Tri County League upper tier. The
Bulldogs played five playoff teams and
three of the losses were by three-point
margins. They have lost six straight
games on the road.

Gare Mattes enters his third season as
head coach with a record of 5-15. He
has a career head coaching record of
111-102-3, including 16 seasons at
Stow-Munroe Falls, three seasons at
Hamptown Township (Pa.) and one
season at Maricopa (Ariz.).

East Palestine has its backfield
returning, but will miss speedy Jake
DiCello, who accounted for 116 of the
team’s 226 points last season.
“The Bulldogs will have a season
offense led by Offensive MVP Derek
Smith and quarterback Luke Cope.
Tyler Visnick will add power to the
running attack, which will be spearheaded by returning starters Jacob
Knopp, Drew Weigle and Jeremy
Sodergren and Chris Raley on the line,”
Mattes said. “Austin Reiser, a Division
I prospect, will be a key targer for Cope
as a wide receiver. his range and size
will help to bolster a receiving crew
wiped out by graduation.”

Eleven, including eight starters on
offense and six starters on defense.

Basic defensive formation

Basic offensive formation

Defensive outlook

Pro I/Spread.

Offensive outlook

5-2 with multiple stunts.

“We will be working hard to shore up
a defense that gave up an average of 33
points a game,” Mattes said. “A new

attitude along with more numbers o the
team will give meaning to our motto for
the year, ‘This dog will bite!’”

East Palestine enters the season with
20 players in grades 10-12 for the second straight year.
“We are scrambling right now trying
to put a team together (because of
injuries), Mattes said. “We’re going to
basically work with the strengths we
have.”
That will be the offense.
“We feel we’re going to be able to
move the ball on the ground,” Mattes
said. “With Luke Cope at quarterback,
we feel pretty good about our passing
game.”
Some of the Bulldogs sat out the
scrimmages to injuries and Cope also is
questionable due to an ankle injury.
“We can’t afford to have anyone hurt
and we have a couple of kids dinged
up,” Mattes said. “If we lose two kids,
that’s four positions because our guys
go both ways. We’re hoping by our first
game we’ll be back to full to full
strength.”
Hopefully, everyone will be available
when Inter-Tri County League play
begins.
“Perennial league leaders Crestview,
South Range and Springfield will be the
teams to beat for the league crown again
this year,” Mattes said.

2011 Record
4-6, including a 2-5 mark in the
Inter-Tri County League lower tier. The
six losses were to teams that won 44
combined games. The Bears have seven
of their last nine home games and 18 of
their last 24 games overall.

Head Coach

Matt Altomare enters his sixth season
as head coach with a record of 26-26
and two state playoff appearances. He
was the Leetonia defensive coordinator
the previous eight seasons.

“Though we return some starters on
each side the of the ball, we need some
players to step up,” Altomare said. “We
must stay healthy in order to compete.
We also need to develop an identity on
offense and find playmakers.
“We have to eliminate our mistakes
and turnovers this year to be competitive.”

Basic defensive formation
Multiple 50.

Defensive outlook

The Bears win whenever their
defense plays well. Last season, they
gave up an average of 7.5 points and 99
yards rushing in their four wins and
28.2 points and 228 yards rushing in
their six losses.
“Our players are very hard working
with a desire to win, so it makes it easy
to coach,” Altomare said.

Leetonia is coming off consecutive
losing seasons for the first time since
1997-98.
The numbers are against the Bears
as they have eight seniors, eight juniors and seven sophomores.
“Lack of depth being a small school
and our numbers are a little low this
year,” Altomare said. “We need leaders to step up as we lost great leadership last year.”
The Bears are hoping to get on a roll
by the time the ITCL starts.
“Our tier of the ITCL should be very
competitive this year,” Altomare said.
“Western Reserve returns some key
players from their undefeated team last
year, and are the defending champs.
Wellsville, McDonald and Southern
all return a lot of players. Columbiana
was a playoff team and joins the
league and should contend. I look for
the league to be very competitive and
balanced this year.”

409 East 2nd Street • Salem, Ohio 44460

330-332-2201

Continued from Page 9A

What Blower does for Crestview,
Steiginga does for Columbiana.
“He’s about the same size as me
and he’s a big threat,” Blower said.
Steiginga is the Clippers’ big-play
threat. He totaled 1,308 all-purpose
yards and was the team’s leading tackler with 115 stops during the
Clippers’ 8-3 season last year.
“The only way he’s coming off the
field for us is if he wants off the field,”
Spaite said. “He’s definitely our home
run guy. We have a lot of other guys
who we feel are very talented and
we’ve got to get the ball to, but
Britton’s the guy who can take a 5yard play and turn it into a 95-yard
touchdown.”
Do the players ever think about
what it would be like to be bigger?
“All the time,” Steiginga said. “I
think I would go D1 if I was 6-foot
tall. But that’s out of the picture. I’m
just about done growing now, but it’s
all right.”
When Crestview visits Columbiana
in the Aug. 23 season opener, all eyes
will be looking for the small guys to
make the big plays.
“I told Nick, ‘You’re not going to
sneak up on anybody this year,’”
Cusick said. “You’re going to have to
work twice as hard.’”

MORNING
JOURNAL

308 Maple St.
Lisbon, Ohio 44432
Phone (330) 424-9541

• Your ONE STOP SHOP
for all your computer needs!
• Sales and FULL Service Department
• Largest Ink and Cartridge Selection in the area
• eBay Power Seller Consignment Center
• iPhone Repair and Supplies now available
• Servicing the NICEST PEOPLE for 25 Years in Downtown Salem
• Located in the HISTORIC Salem Drug Building

2011 Record
1-9, including an 0-7 mark in the
Inter-Tri County League upper tier. The
Blue Devils have lost 45 of their last 47
games and 41 straight league games.
They have lost nine straight home
games.

Head Coach

Jim Tsilimos enters his second season as head coach and 20th overall at
Lisbon. He was 110-79 at Lisbon from
1990-2007, including five Tri-County
League titles, five state playoff appearances and the 1995 Division V state
championship. He has a career head
coaching record of 136-113, including
three years at Wilmington and two
years at Benjamin Logan.

After two wins in the last four seasons, the Blue Devils are looking for
something good to happen soon.
“We must start fast to build momentum for the upper tier,” Tsilimos said.
An early win would be a confidence
builder for the Blue Devils, who have
six straight losing seasons and haven’t
won a league game since 2006.
“I like Crestview and South Range to
compete for the ITCL title,” Tsilimos
said.

“We are looking to be consistent,”
Springer said. “We are above average at
our skill positions. Quarterback Josh
Hurford is back along with running
back Dylan Mick and wide receivers
Jerry Billingsley and Zach Jackson. The
line is young with no seniors on the
offensive line, which is anchored by
mostly sophomores. They will need to
work hard and pick things up fast.”

Basic defensive formation
4-3/4-4

Defensive outlook

“Again we are young up front,”
Springer said. “Junior defenisve tackle
Cori Wilson returns. There are several
players pushing for the free safety positions.”

The Trojans return only three starters
on each side of the ball, so they will
have to develop quickly to continue
Sebring’s tournaround.
Sebring is coming off consecutive 46 seasons, the only times the Trojans
won more than two games in a season
since their last winning campaign in
1992.
“We are young up front on both sides
of the ball,” Springer said. “We must
work hard, keep consistent in what we
do and stay healthy. We have to correct
the mistakes and continue to believe
and trust each other.”
“GO TROJANS!”

WEEK ONE
Thursday, Aug. 23
Crestview at Columbiana
Lisbon at Leetonia
McDonald at Springfield
Friday, Aug. 24
Southern Local at East
Palestine
United at Malvern
Warren JFK at South Range
Rootstown at Sebring
Western
Reserve
at
Cuyahoga Heights
Fairport Harbor at Mineral
Ridge
Windham at Jackson-Milton
Saturday, Aug. 25
Toronto at Wellsville
Lowellville at Youngstown
Christian
———
WEEK TWO
Friday, Aug. 31
Crestview at Beaver Local
Lisbon at Southern Local
East
Palestine
at
Columbiana
Salem at United
Leetonia at Mineral Ridge
Wellsville at Oak Glen,
W.Va.
South Range at Campbell
Memorial
Sebring at Southington
Malvern at Western Reserve
Jackson-Milton
at
Rootstown
Kennedy Catholic, Pa., at
McDonald
Lowellville
at
Burton
Berkshire
Sept. 1
Springfield at Youngstown
Christian
———

WEEK THREE
Friday, Sept. 7
Wellsville at Lisbon
Southern Local at Crestview
Western Reserve at East
Palestine
United at Rootstown
Mathews at Leetonia
Garfield Heights Trinity at
South Range
Springfield at Lowellville
Newbury at Sebring
Mineral Ridge at McDonald
Jackson-Milton at Orwell
Grand Valley
Saturday, Sept. 8
Columbiana at Steubenville
Catholic Central
———
WEEK FOUR
Friday, Sept. 14
Upper Tier
Lisbon at Crestview
East Palestine at South
Range
United at Springfield
Mineral Ridge at JacksonMilton
Lower Tier
Wellsville at Columbiana
Sebring at Southern Local
Leetonia at Lowellville
McDonald at Western
Reserve
———
WEEK FIVE
Friday, Sept. 21
Upper Tier
South Range at United
Springfield at East Palestine
Crestview at Mineral Ridge
Jackson-Milton at Lisbon
Lower Tier
Columbiana at Sebring
Leetonia at Western Reserve
Lowellville at Wellsville

Southern
Local
at
McDonald
———
WEEK SIX
Friday, Sept. 28
Upper Tier
Crestview at Springfield
Lisbon at United
Mineral Ridge at East
Palestine
Jackson-Milton at South
Range
Lower Tier
Southern
Local
at
Columbiana
Sebring at Wellsville

McDonald at Leetonia
Western
Reserve
at
Lowellville
———
WEEK SEVEN
Friday, Oct. 5
Upper Tier
United at Crestview
Springfield at Lisbon
East Palestine at JacksonMilton
Mineral Ridge at South
Range
Lower Tier
Leetonia at Columbiana
Wellsville at Southern Local

Sebring at Western Reserve
Lowellville at McDonald
———
WEEK EIGHT
Friday, Oct. 12
Upper Tier
East Palestine at United
Lisbon at Mineral Ridge
South Range at Springfield
Jackson-Milton at Crestview
Lower Tier
Leetonia at Sebring
Southern Local at Western
Reserve
Columbiana at Lowellville
McDonald at Wellsville
———
WEEK NINE
Friday, Oct. 19
Upper Tier
Crestview at East Palestine
South Range at Lisbon
Jackson-Milton at United
Mineral Ridge at Springfield
Lower Tier
Southern Local at Leetonia
Columbiana at McDonald
Western
Reserve
at
Wellsville
Sebring at Lowellville
———
WEEK TEN
Friday, Oct. 26
Upper Tier
South Range at Crestview
East Palestine at Lisbon
United at Mineral Ridge
Springfield at JacksonMilton
Lower Tier
Western
Reserve
at
Columbiana
Wellsville at Leetonia
Lowellville at Southern
Local
McDonald at Sebring

GREENFORD — There will no longer
be any treks to the old school for South
Range High School football practice.
Coach Dan Yeagley is grateful for that.
“It saves a ton of time,” Yeagley said.
“Being able to practice at the school and
being able to walk out of the lockers and
practice right after school is great. When the
kids had to travel to the other school to practice sometimes they would get lost.
Sometimes they would show up late
because of traffic. Things like that happened
and we had to excuse it because of the
inconvenience. Now there’s no problem.”
The Phil and Gerry Rominger Foundation
Sports Complex was completed over the
summer at the site of the K-12 campus.
Those benefactors are committed to donating $100,000 or more annually through the
2030s to the South Range school district.
Included in the athletic additions to the cam-

pus were a 12,000-square-foot locker and
weight room facility, practice fields and an
all-weather track and field across the street
from the school.
“What we like most about this is the
amount of space we have,” Yeagley said.
“We have tons of space. The nice thing is
we can get a lot of people in there at the
same time. I think we’ve had 55 or 60 kids
in there at the same time with no problem at
all. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Space was an issue recently for the Raider
football team as strength training was taking
place in an old barn on the property near the
all-weather track.
“We did our lifting there for about a
year,” Yeagley said. “It wasn’t much, but it
saved on travel. We got a very good program going, but it was very cramped. It was
a temporary fix.”
Yeagley said people in the community
donated time and materials to make the barn
See RAIDERS, Page 47A

Morning Journal/Britney Sadler

South Range quarterback Ross Stoffer returns for the Raiders after
passing for 1,069 yards last season.

Twenty, including eight starters on
offense and nine starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Wing-T.

Offensive outlook

South Range returns 1,000-yard
passer Ross Stoffer and running back
Jake Arsuffi, who missed last season
due to injury.
“This season the Raiders will have a
good mix of skill players returning, but
we will be very young up front,”
Yeagley said. “Ross Stoffer returns at
quarterback this year along with many
backs and receivers who got some playing time.
“Offensively, the Raiders need to
play as a team and execute every play
properly to be successful.”

Basic defensive formation
50.

11.0 points in their five wins and 28.4
points in their five losses.
“Like on offense, the Raiders played
a lot of different players on defense,”
Yeagley said. “The defense needs to
play well every week for our team to be
successful and will be tested early with
a very tough non-league schedule.”

9-1, including a second-place finish
in the Inter-Tri County League lower
tier with a 6-1 mark. It was the most
wins in school history. The Indians
were 5-0 on the road and have won nine
of their last 10 home games.

Head Coach

Mike Skrinjar enters his third season
as head coach with a 17-4 record. He
was an assistant coach at Southern
Local for five years, including two as
defensive coordinator. He also coached

Twenty one, including five starters
on offense and eight starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Pro I.

Offensive outlook

Quarterback Luke Griffith passed for

a school-record 1,744 yards and 15
touchdowns last season and returns to
lead the Indians.
“We have experienced leadership at
quarterback,” Skrinjar said. “We will
utilize our speedy skill players.”

Basic defensive formation
3-4 with multiple formations.

Defensive outlook

With eight returning starters, the
Indians expect to be strong defensively.
“We have experienced leadership in
the secondary and a powerful and
strong defensive front,” Skrinjar said.
“We have an intensity driven relentless
team-oriented mentality.”

Southern Local has enjoyed four
winning seasons in the last six years
and expects to have another one.
The Indians return 21 letterwinners
from the winningest team in school history. But the season ended early for the
Indians as they missed the playoffs
because their nine wins came against
teams that had 31 combined victories.
“It affected the seniors the most,”
Skrinjar said. “That was the most difficult part. These guys really embraced
high school football and it hurt them. It
shocked our community because they
didn’t understand how the system really
VICTOR STOFFER
agent - owner

worked.”
Coming off a 17-4 record the past
two seasons — the best consecutive
seasons in school history — the Indians
expect to continue their winning ways
as they return 21 letterwinners.
“I always have high expectations for
myself and my players,” Skrinjar said.
“Going into it, I knew we’d put in the
work to be able to compete, but that was
never good enough for me. I wanted to
get the kids into a mindset to dominate.
That’s our mentality.”
Southern Local will be tested this
season as the Indians added area powerhouse Crestview and Columbianan,
which drops to the ITCL lower tier this
season.
“Those guys are playoff contenders
every year,” Skrinjar said. “They are
solid programs. I like the challenge. It
gives us an extra edge. I’ve always like
the idea of going up against the best.
Wouldn’t you rather say you beat a
Crestview than a team everyone expected you to beat?”

HAVE A GREAT SEASON!
“You
“You oughta
oughta be
be
in
in pictures”
pictures”

The Raiders return 20 letterwinners,
including eight starters on offense and
nine starters on defense.
“Throughout the 2011 season, we
played a lot of different players,”
Yeagley said. “Many of our players had
a chance to start at least one game during the season because of injuries and
trying to find the right combination,
Even though we played a lot of players,
the Raiders still have to mature quickly
because of a very tough non-league
schedule and a very tough league.”
The Raiders are expected to challenge for the ITCL upper tier title.
“It’s still Crestview,” Yeagley said.
“They’re going to be very good and
they added a few players this year
which should help them. Mineral
Ridge and United are also looking
pretty good. Springfield has the
biggest team in the league. We’re
going to need to be ready to compete.”

8-3, including a second-place finish
in the Inter-Tri County League upper
tier with a 5-2 mark. The Tigers won
their last three regular-season games to
gain their first playoff appearance since
2002. They were 5-0 at home.

Head Coach

Sean Guerriero enters his sixth season as head coach with a record of 2328. He was an assistant at Girad for
four years and Gilmour Academy one
year.

Returning lettermen

yards passing in the regular season last
year, but Sugarcreek Garaway beat
them in the playoff opener with 310
yards and four touchdowns through the
air. Now the Tigers will have to replace
all their starters in the secondary.

Sixteen, including three starters on
offense and four starters on defense.

Returning offensive ends

Basic offensive formation

Incoming offensive ends

Power spread.

Offensive outlook

It will be hard to replace graduated
quarterback Nick Russell, who accounted for 3,030 yards of total offense and
31 touchdowns last season. The offensive line is the strength of the Tigers
with returning starters Michael Lewis,
Gabe Crowe and Brian Swansiger.

3-7, including a 3-4 mark in the
Inter-Tri County League upper tier. The
Eagles won three of their last six games
overall and 12 of their last 18 league
games.

Head Coach

Mike Ward enters his third consecutive season and 12th overall at United.
He has a 114-77 career record in 19
years as a head coach — inlcuding 4634 in eight years at Lisbon from 198087 and 58-32 in nine years at United
from 1989-97.

Eighteen, including eight starters on
offense and eight starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
I formation.

Offensive outlook

The Eagles averaged 31.7 points a
game in their three wins, but just 8.4
points in their seven losses.
Quarterback Garrett Beech returns after
collecting 1,212 yards of total offense
as a sophomore.
“We return eight starters from last
year that includes quarterback Garrett
Beech, who started all 10 games last
year,” Ward said.

Basic defensive formation
4-3.

PHILLIS
TRACTOR REPAIR
3308 Depot Road • Salem, OH

330-222-1900

LI’L BEAVERS
TASTY PASTRIES
C
R •L
, OH 44432

9405 TRINITY HURCH OAD

ISBON

ATTN: Irene Skomra

330-223-1167

Morning Journal/Ron Firth

The junior backfield of (from left) fullback Zach Maze, quarterback Garrett
Beech and tailback Mike Martin will lead United this season.

Defensive outlook

“We return eight starters on defense
as well,” Ward said. “We believe our
experience on both ‘O’ and ‘D’ will be
a benefit.”

The Eagles may be young, but are
experienced as they return all their statistical leaders.
“We return 18 letterwinners and
have only six seniors on the roster,”
Ward said. “We played many freshmen
and sophomores last year. Our hope is
their playing experience will be a benefit for us this year.”
The Eagles will try to enjoy some
success against Malvern, Salem and
Rootstown before opening the ITCL
upper tier schedule.
“Our league is very tough with a
number of teams that can compete for
the league title,” Ward said.

100-yard
fumble return
United’s Garrett Beech
recovers a Columbiana
fumble and gets an escort
from Mike Martin (31) on a
100-yard return for a
touchdown last season.
Both players return to the
Eagle secondary.

Inter-Tri County League lower tier. The
Tigers won three of their last four regular-season games for their first playoff
appearance since 2001. They were 3-2
in games decided by 10 points or less.

Head Coach

Dave Skinner enters his sixth season
as head coach with a record of 28-23.
He previously served 14 years as an
assistant, including 11 years at
Southern Local and one at East
Palestine, Campbell Memorial and
Wellsville.

ers from last season (Marcus Moxley
and Brendon Carr).
“Strengths are our skill positions and
the weakness is the depth on the line,”
Skinner said.

Returning lettermen

Defensive outlook

Eighteen, including nine starters on
offense and eight starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Spread/4-3.

Offensive outlook

The Tigers return their leading rush-

Basic defensive formation
4-3.

“We have a new defensive coordinator with a lot of energy,” Skinner said.
“I’m looking for a lot of big things. I’m
pretty excited with the athletes we
have.”
The defensive line will be aided by 6foot-3 sophomore Travis Furbee, who
See TIGERS, Page 42A

A year after making the playoffs, the
Tigers suffered a setback as two of their
top players are no longer with the team.
“Our goals are to win the league and
get back to the playoffs,” Skinner said.
“We’re not going to change the goals.
We’re going to have to have a couple of
other kids step up.”
Wellsville will be led by a junior
class that is 15 players strong. The
Tigers have only four seniors and five

sophomores, so they must avoid
injuries.
The Tigers have added Oak Glen,
which advanced to the West Virginia
playoffs last season, to the schedule.
They will play at Oak Glen’s new stadium on Aug. 31 before the Tigers open
ITCL lower tier play.
“Our non-league schedule will be a
good test for us to see where we stack
up,” Skinner said. “Toronto will be
improved as will Lisbon. Oak Glen will
be a step up for us and we welcome the
opportunity.
“Our league will be very strong this
year with a number of teams able to
compete for the title.”
Skinner expects the ITCL lower tier
to be solid from top to bottom.
“I would say Western reserve is the
favorite until you knock them off,” he
said. “The league is going to be the
most balanced it’s been since I’ve been
here, especially with Columbiana moving in.
“The winner of the tier could possibly have two losses. It’s going to be that
competitive.”
“GOOD LUCK TIGERS”

Morning Journal • Football Preview 2012 • Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 45A
A gas drilling rig was at work
behind the United High School practice football field in July. Chesapeake
Exploration drilled the well along
Speidel Road in Hanover Township.
Morning Journal/Ron Firth

Tigers
go to
work
If Springfield High
School needs any
help on its construction project,
all the Tigers need
to do is call seniors Michael Lewis
(79) and Derek
Gbur (68). Both
are returning
starters on the
line.

F eel l ike you’re on vacation every day!
Cozy comfort living overlooking a scenic golf course.
The Residential Community Center houses a large
Party Room with kitchen, lounge area with fireplace,
exercise room with flat-screen television and a
beautiful in-ground heated swimming pool. Choose
from 4 neighborhoods, homes, villas and town houses.
Our respected, quality builders design homes for every
lifestyle. Lots are available too.

The Tigers have had one losing season in the last 16 years and their eight
wins last season was their most since
2000.
“We will be a young football team,”
Guerriero said. “But with being young,
we are enthusiastic and hungry to start
the season.”
The offensive line should be solid and
give younger skilled players time to
develop.
Springfield is glad to be opening at
home against McDonald on Aug. 23.
The Tigers have won eight of their last
10 home games.

usable for weightlifting purposes.
The field encircled by a new allweather track across the street from
the school will be used for soccer
and junior high football games for
the time being. There’s a plan to use
that field as a new stadium in the
future, but it will be a gradual
process. The next step will be the
addition of a pedestrian tunnel run-

ning under Rt. 46 and turning lanes
in front of the school, but that $1.6
million project funded through a federal Congestion Mitigation Air
Quality grant is set for completion in
2014.
“When everything is done it’s
going to be really nice,” Yeagley
said.

MORNING

See pages
29A-31A for more
on South Range

JOURNAL

308 Maple St.
Lisbon, Ohio 44432
Phone (330) 424-9541

Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer

South Range’s Corey Deal (28), Robby Seman (32) and Jake Pfeifer (82)
team up on Crestview runner Dimitri Gregory last season. The three
Raiders are seniors on the South Range defensive unit.

View photos and order prints at
cu.morningjournalnews.com

“Football is a great deal like life in that it
teaches that work, sacrifice, perserverance,
competitive drive, selflessness and respect for
authority is the price that each and every one
of us must pay to achieve any goal that is
worthwhile.” - Vince Lombardi

WE’RE
WE’RE RIGHT
RIGHT
HERE!
HERE!
YOUR
IN
IN YOUR
BACKYARD!
BACKYARD!

8 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS

The Telischak Company
Visit our fine McDonald’s locations!

Salem..........................1892 East State Street
Boardman....900 East Western Reserve Road
Chester, West Virginia........431 Carolina Ave.
North Lima............................10960 Market St.

Columbiana.......................151 State Route 14
East Liverpool.............15573 State Route 170
East Palestine.............60 South Market Street
Lisbon.............................7800 State Route 45

Some of the Morning Journal’s best
Pictured on the cover of the Morning Journal’s 2012 Football Preview
B section are some of the top seniors from the five area teams that
advanced to the state playoffs last season. Pictured are (from left)
Crestview’s Kaleb Baker, Minerva’s Jake Riley, Wellsville’s Seth Martin,
Columbiana’s Brandon Hacker and Springfield’s Alex Wharry. See
story page 21B
Pictured on the cover in the A section are running backs Britton
Steiginga from Columbiana and Nick Blower from Crestview.
See story on page 9A.
Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer

STEP
STEP INTO
INTO A
A NEW
NEW CAREER
CAREER WITH
WITH
ADULT
ADULT EDUCATION
EDUCATION CLASSES
CLASSES

Registration Is Currently Open
Fall Semester Classes
For Industrial Machine Trades
Begin September 17th, 2012

Special OPEN HOUSE
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29TH, 2012
5:00PM-8:00PM
Held for those interested in
training as a Machinist
Financial Aid is Available To Those Who Qualify

BRANDON HACKER
Columbiana

ALEX WHARRY
Springfield

We are currently recruiting for Fall 2012 Adult Education
Industrial Training Programs.

• Machine Trades
Includes hands on applications as well as blueprint reading,
industrial math, layout and fitting for welding and machine
processes.
We are excited to roll out our new lab with BRAND NEW STATE OF
THE ART equipment! Students will learn many modern techniques
and gain the sophisticated credentials in industrial trades that
employers are seeking.
Gain SKILLS at CCCTC in as little as 9 months & be eligible to sit for
a national certification.
Student interested may call today to find out more or attend our
OPEN house. Call us today at 330-424-9562 ext.142
CCCTC is a preferred training provider of the

W orkin g together to create a 21stC en tu ry skilled w orkforce.
Employer members such as Brilex Industries, Kiraly Tool and Die,
Inc., M7 Technologies, and Starr Manufacturing seek out our
graduates when making new hires.
CCCTC Adult Education is committed to a DRUG FREE workforce.
Students who submit to volunteer drug screening are identified on
their resumes for employers. Students from CCCTC Adult Education
want employers to know that they are drug free candidates.

ing five to playoff teams. They have lost
14 of their last 16 home games.

Head Coach

Jeremy McElroy enters his first season
as head coach. He was 1-29 in three seasons at Lisbon from 2008-10 and served
as offensive line coach at Beaver Local in
2011. He was an assistant coach at
Kettering Fairmont High School from
2004-07, at Piqua High School in 2004,
at California University (Pa.) in 2002-03,
at East Palestine High School in 2001 and
a student coach at Mount Union College in
2000.

Eighteen, including seven starters on
offense and six starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Wing-T/ Multiple.

Offensive outlook

The Beavers averaged 8.8 points in
their nine losses last season, which is
where they must improve.

“We look to utilize Daniel Lattanzio
and Phillip Beohm at the skill positions,”
McElroy said. “We have a lot of experience returning on our offfensive line with
seniors Mike Brewer and Cody Greene.”

Basic defensive formation
Multiple 4-3.

Defensive outlook

The Beavers forced 14 turnovers last
season and 10 the year before.
“We have an experienced defensive line
and secondary with an inexperienced linebacking corps,” McElroy said. “Senior
Matt Sims and Justin Osborne are experienced secondary players. Andrew Travis
and Cody Martsoff are experienced defensive linemen.”
See BEAVERS, Page 8B

CALCUTTA — New Beaver Local
football coach Jeremy McElroy is hoping for a smooth transition as he makes
his second attempt at head coaching.
The last time around — from 2008 to
2010 with Lisbon — McElroy went 129 before Jim Tsilimos retook the Blue
Devil reigns. This time he comes into
his job at Beaver having been the offensive line coach the previous season.
“Being here last year I know the
kids,” McElroy said. “That helps. I have
an established relationship. They know
me and I know them.”
McElory replaces the popular Rich
Wright, who led the Beavers to six playoff appearances in 14 seasons. Wright
resigned in May to pursue employment
opportunities in administration.
“Anytime there is change it’s hard,”
McElroy said. “You have to expect it.”
McElroy and the administration at
Beaver Local have laid the groundwork
for a smooth transition into a new era
despite the change at the top.
“There wasn’t much of a transition
because we never stopped,” McElroy
said. “I know what they have done in

“We have good
enough kids and we
just have to take
advantage of every
day. Every day you
have to get better.
That’s how you
catch up.”
JEREMY MCELROY,
BEAVER LOCAL HEAD COACH

the past and we tweaked it a bit here and
there, but we’re staying consistent. We
only added two guys to the staff, so it’s
mostly the same.”
Despite not much to write home
about in the win department from his
previous head coaching gig, McElroy
said he learned a lot and hopes to apply
it to the Beavers.

Winner
Beaver Local
East Liverpool
East Liverpool
East Liverpool
Beaver Local
Beaver Local
East Liverpool
East Liverpool
East Liverpool
East Liverpool
East Liverpool
Beaver Local
East Liverpool
East Liverpool
Beaver Local
Beaver Local
East Liverpool

27-6 East Liverpool
60-26 East Liverpool
38-3 East Liverpool
35-9 Beaver Local
17-6 Beaver Local
28-21 East Liverpool
10-0 Beaver Local
34-19 Beaver Local
14-0 Beaver Local
22-6 Beaver Local
21-15 Beaver Local
47-8 Beaver Local
29-22 Beaver Local
20-14 East Liverpool
16-10 2OT East Liverpool
20-8 Beaver Local
Aug. 24

“I learned where to focus my attention and where to keep it focused,”
McElroy said. “I know where I want to
go and hopefully I can get there.”
McElroy, a 1996 graduate of East
Palestine High School, teaches fifth
grade language arts and social studies in
Lisbon. He had been an assistant at
Kettering Fairmont, Piqua and East

Palestine high schools. Included in his
assistant experience is some time at
California University in Pennsylvania
and Mount Union. As a player at Mount
Union, McElory played defensive end
on the Purple Raiders’ NCAA Division
III national champion teams in 1996,
1997 and 1998.
Beaver Local is a bit larger than
Lisbon and will present some different
challenges for the head coach, but
McElroy is up to the task.
“You have more bodies, but you’re
also playing larger schools, too,”
McElroy said. “You still have to compete and do the best you can. It doesn’t
matter what size. You have to focus on
the process of becoming the best you
can be.”
Beaver Local, which hasn’t had a
winning campaign in six seasons, has a
lot of work to do to get back to the winning ways which dominated the early
2000s.
“We have good enough kids and we
just have to take advantage of every
day,” McElroy said. “Every day you
have to get better. That’s how you catch
up.”
“GOOD LUCK BEAVER LOCAL”

years as the Beaver Local boss.
“Our team is a hard working and tough
group that is investing in the process to be
a great team,” McElroy said. “We are lead
by our 15 seniors.”
It will not be easy for the Beavers, who
are coming off three straight 1-9 seasons.
Beaver Local is in its final season in the
All-American Conference. The Beavers
have lost 16 straight league games and
appear to be headed out as an independent
after the 2012-13 school year.
“Our conference is a great league,”
McElroy said. “Howland, Poland,
Canfield, Niles, Hubbard, Jefferson and
Struthers are all great teams. Any of those
great teams can have outstanding seasons
and compete for a league championship.”

2012 Outlook

There are a lot of changes at Beaver
Local.
Jeremy McElroy takes over as head
coach, replacing Rich Wright, who was
83-66 with six playoff appearances in 14

Howland running back DeVeon Smith, who has committed to the University
of Michigan, ran for 2,161 yards and 25 touchdowns last season, while averaging 11.6 yards per carry. Here, Smith runs into the Beaver Local secondary that includes Phillip Beohm (left) and Justin Osborne (right) on Sept.
30, 2011. Smith totaled 227 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries in
Howland’s 41-7 win at Beaver Local.

Twelve, including six starters on
offense and six starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Wing.

Offensive outlook

The Potters averaged 6.9 points in
their nine losses last season and scored
seven touchdowns in their six home
games.
“We have to be more consistent running the football,” Prescott said. “It is,
by far, our number one focus. We have
to play the time of possession and field
position game. We took that for granted
at times last year, and that’s ultimately
my fault.”

Basic defensive formation
40 with multiple formations.

Defensive outlook

The Potters forced only 11 turnovers
last season and are looking for a more
physical defense.
“It’s all about playing together,”
Prescott said. “We’re going to put as
many guys as we can up front to stop
the run. We’re going to force you to
beat us with the deep ball, force them to
beat us with the low percentage stuff.”

After a one-win season and with
only six seniors on the roster, the
Potters expect to continue to grow and
mature as a team as the season goes
along.
“We did accomplish some things,”
Prescott said about his first season as a
head coach. “We had to implement
some discipline. We knew going in that
there was a lack of accountability. We
understood that some of the kids were
going to push the limits. Once we fixed
those problems, we had players who
wanted to be there. From there, we
turned a page and it carried into the offseason.
“Looking back, I’m glad it happened
the way it did. I would’ve liked to had
more wins, but we got over some road
bumps, which is even more important.”
The Potters played six teams that
won at least seven games last year

before winning their season finale at
Weirton, W. Va.
“We went through the meat grinder
last year,” Prescott said. “But, as an
independent, there’s always a lot of
change and you have the ability to
adjust.”
East Liverpool overhauled its schedule with five new opponents this season.
“Ultimately, I feel like we’re playing
the level we should be playing,”
Prescott said. “We’re trying to get back
into a valley schedule, playing up and
down the river. We want to try and get
some of those natural rivalries back.”
The Potters play five of their first
seven games on the road before return-

ing home for their final three regularseason contests.
“I’m very optimistic,” Prescott said.
“We’re still young, but I like what we
have. They’re done everything they
could to get better. I can’t say how
many wins that will equal out to, but I
know at the end of the game they’ll be
able to look themselves in the mirror
and know they did all they could. Last
year, from top to bottom, they couldn’t
say that.
“We’re never going to lose a game
due to heart or conditioning. And when
we do lose, it’s going to hurt because
they’ve put so much into this.”

State champs kick off season
CLEVELAND — A pair of defending state champions will highlight the opening
week of the Ohio high school football season.
Division III state champion Youngstown Mooney will take on Division I state
champion Cleveland St. Ignatius in the annual High School Charity Game at
Cleveland Browns Stadium on Aug. 25. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
The Broadview Heights-North Royalton game will precede it at 2 p.m. Tickets
(which include admission for both games) are $10 in advance through the Cleveland Browns ticket office or Ticketmaster. Tickets are $12 at the gate.

11-1, including the first Northeastern
Buckeye Conference title since 1997
with a 7-0 mark. The Lions had their
most wins in school history and captured their first playoff victory, 29-28,
against Poland. Minerva was ranked
sixth in the Division III state poll.

Head Coach

Dale Soles enters his second season
as head coach. He was the
Northeastern Buckeye Conference
Coach of the Year. He served the previous 24 years as an assistant at
Minerva, including four seasons as

Fifteen, including two starters on
offense and six starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Spread.

Offensive outlook
Last year’s leading rusher, Jake
Riley, has been moved to quarterback.
“The kids have a solid understanding
of the offense now that this will be their
fourth year playing in it,” Soles said.
“We have a solid group of skill position
players return that are anxious to prove
themselves.”

“When I was in the
eighth grade, my sister
(Addie) was starting her
first year in the Academy.
I went out to a football
game and got to
experience that. I got a
feel that is what I want
to do with my life.”

Journal Sports Editor

MINERVA — Minerva senior Jake
Riley has a lot left to do his final football season with the Lions before heading to the Air Force Academy.
Riley was Minerva’s leading rusher
last season as the Lions recorded a
school-record 11 victories and captured their first Northeastern Buckeye
Conference championship since 1997.
“We kind of established ourselves as
the top team last year,” Riley said.
“This year people are going to be coming after us, trying to take that title
away. We’re going to come back at
them.”
He recently committed to Air Force,
narrowing the list down from seven
full-ride college offers.
“I’ve worked hard for them,” Riley
said. “The first one (from Kent State in
February) was a big surprise. Ever
since then I’ve been going to camps
and they’ve kept rolling in.”
He knew in his heart from the start
he would be heading to Air Force,
where his sister, Addie, is entering her
senior year.
“When I was in the eighth grade, my
sister was starting her first year in the
Academy,” he said. “I went out to a
football game and got to experience
that. I got a feel that is what I want to
do with my life.”
He plans on majoring in civil engineering, just like his sister.
Riley said Air Force expects to use
him as an outside linebacker in the
Falcons’ 3-4 defense.
Besides Air Force, he said offers
came from Kent State, Akron, Miami
of Ohio, Colgate, Harvard and Yale,
although a couple of those were for
academics.
“Now I’m committed to Air Force
and I’m going with that,” Riley said.
“I’m excited.”
“GOOD LUCK”

MINERVA WELDING
& FABRICATING
22133 U.S. SR 30 • Minerva, OH

330-868-7731

JAKE RILEY,
AIR FORCE RECRUIT

After going more than three decades
without a player going to an NCAA
Division I-A program, the is the second
straight year for it to happen for the
Lions. Last year’s leading receiver,
Kyle Crum, is a freshman tight end at
Kent State University.
Riley — a member of Minerva’s
sixth-place 400-meter relay team
(43.36 seconds) at the state track meet

in June — ran for a team-high 1,225
yards and 15 touchdowns on 178 carries last year.

He will return as a safety after totaling 90 tackles last season, but will also
be the starting quarterback when the
Lions open the 2012 season at
Mogadore Field on Aug. 24.
“I played quarterback my freshman
year,” he said. “I was more of a runner.
“I think I’ve improved a lot. I’m
looking forward to seeing what I can
do in a game situation.”
Riley guided the Lions to a pair of
victories at quarterback last season
when starter Eli Maurer was injured.
He completed 24 of 38 passes for
305 yards and two touchdowns with no
interceptions during that stint.
“The experience last season, getting
thrown in during the rush of the game
with not much preparation, it really
helped me grow a lot as a quarterback,”
Riley said. “I think I’m going to know
what I’m doing more this year because
of that.”

“GOOD LUCK!”

“HAVE A GREAT SEASON!”

2892 BEECHWOOD AVE.
PARIS, OHIO

106 N. Main St. • Minerva, Ohio

“GO LIONS....”

“GO. . .LIONS”

Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer

Minerva senior quarterback Jake Riley recently committed to the Air Force
Academy, giving the Lions their second NCAA Division I-A player in two
years.

The Lions return six starters on
defense, but none of them are up front.
“We have been in the 3-3 Stack for
several years now and our kids our
comfortable with the defense and
understand its strengths and weaknesses,” Soles said. “Our kids have a nose
for the ball and enjoy playing defense
and bring that attitude to the field.”

Back in
the Lions’
lineup
Minerva junior Harrison Hoppel is one of
six returning defensive starters. Hoppel
collected 43 tackles
and one interception
as a sophomore
starting linebacker
for the winningest
team in Minerva history last season.

Run for the playoffs
Area qualifiers aim for repeat performance in 2012
By RON FIRTH
Journal Sports Editor

Area powerhouses Crestview and
Minerva were locks for the football
playoffs late last year. It was a different
story for Wellsville and Springfield,
which had to make late-season runs to
get in.
“It was pretty hard,” Wellsville lineman Seth Martin said. “We had to step
up and prove to everyone we could
make the playoffs.”
Springfield won its last three games,
while Wellsville took three of its last
four to earn playoff berths.
“As a team, that puts a lot on you,”
Springfield fullback Alex Wharry said.
“When you win early, it’s easy to relax.
We couldn’t relax last year. It came
down to either win or you’re not in.”
Wellsville was one of two teams in
the state to reach the playoffs with a 55 record. Naturally, the Tigers had a lot
of skeptics.
‘I heard it from my everyone, even
my parents sometimes,” Martin said.
“They said we shouldn’t have made it,
but I think we worked hard enough to
make and showed we could make it.”
The high school football season
opens in Ohio this week. Of the 716
high school football teams, there will be
192 of them who advance to the state
playoffs in November.

“We had to step up and
prove to everyone we
could make the playoffs.”
SETH MARTIN,
WELLSVILLE SENIOR

There are 10 weeks of sweat and
tears between now and then.
“We just work hard the whole season
and the playoffs just happen to come
around,” Crestview linebacker Kaleb
Baker said. “We know if we work hard
enough, we will eventually make it to
the playoffs.”
Last year, five area teams —
Columbiana, Crestview, Minerva,
Springfield and Wellsville — made it
to the playoffs.
“Since we went last year, we’re
shooting for the same exact thing this
year,” Columbiana running back
Britton Steiginga said. “Just because
that is our tradition, to make it to the
playoffs is always our goal.”
“We focus on one game at a time,”
Columbiana linebacker Brandon
Hacker said. “That’s all we do.”
It can be hard to put last season
behind you, especially when teams like
Crestview and Minerva are coming off
their best seasons — each with a
school-record 11 victories.
“It was a pretty amazing experience,”
20 ACR ES
O VER 7 M ILES
O F M AZE

Minerva quarterback Jake Riley said.
“We haven’t had that Minerva in a long
time. It’s always going linger in my
mind, but you’ve got to put it behind.
It’s a new season.”
“We expected some success, but we
kept working hard every day and hopefully good would happen,” Baker said.
“And it happened.”
Those teams can add another chapter
in the record books beginning this
week.
“It’s another season,” Riley said.
“We’ve got to prepare to win and the
guys have been working hard, doing the
right things in the weight room and on
the field and even off the field the field
in general. We want repeat. We want to

do just as we did last year if not better.”
All the excitement will start in the
season openers this week.
“We don’t try to look forward to anything,” Wharry said. “We just look at
that week. It’s all about beating who we
have right now. We’ve got to focus on
beating them.”
The playoffs will end in Stark County
with the six state title games on Nov. 30
and Dec. 1.
“It’s in our locker room goals,”
Columbiana coach Bob Spaite said.
“We want to earn the right to be in the
playoffs, but it’s not like we’ve got to
do this to be in the playoffs. We want to
make sure we deserve to earn the right
to do that.”

10-2. It was the winningest season in
school history as the Golden Bears
advanced to the West Virginia Class
AA quarterfinal, falling 66-40 to eventual state runner-up Point Pleasant.
They were 5-0 in games decided by
eight points or less.

Fourteen, including six starters on
offense and six starters on defense.

Basic offensive formation
Multiple sets.

Offensive outlook

The Golden Bears graduated Lucas
McDowell, Jeff Hissam and Dylan
Davis, who accounted for 83 percent of
their offense last. But they return the
entire offensive line, including 6-foot8, 370-pound left tackle Richie Davis.
“If you can find a better offensive
line, I’d like to see it,” Whittington said.

“They’re big, they’re strong and every
single one of them has been there since
December in the weight room. They
haven’t missed a day.”

Basic defensive formation
4-4.

Defensive outlook

Defensive tackle Preston Murray is a
four-year starter and stalwart on the
Oak Glen defense.
“We want to force you to pass the
ball,” Whittington said. “We want to be
more physical and fly to the football.
Our goal is to force the offense into
being one-dimensional.”

NEW MANCHESTER, W. Va. —
No one can question the energy level of
Ian Whittington.
The youthful new Oak Glen coach is
brimming with excitement, and he isn’t
afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve.
“I’m still young and I’m fired up
about everything I do,” the 27-year-old
Whittington said. “I still run around and
jump around with the kids. I think that’s
one of the pros about being a young
coach. It helps keep the enthusiasm
level up.”
Whittington will likely need energy
in abundance as he faces the difficult
task of replacing Tony Filberto who
was responsible for turning around a
program that had hit rock bottom.
In the four seasons before Filberto
returned to Oak Glen, the Bears limped
to a mark of 6-34. However, in the past
four years, Oak Glen has gone 27-16
including a record 10 wins last season
and a trip to the Class AA quarterfinals.
“I learned a lot from coach Filberto,”
Whittington, who was an assistant
coach with Oak Glen the past three
years, said. “He’s been around since my
parents were in school. He taught me
the tricks of the trade, the ins and outs.
He showed me all the little things that
need done that people don’t see like
how to prepare and how to deal with
adversity.”
Whittington, a four-sport athlete who
graduated from Oak Glen in 2003, said
he witnessed a turnaround in the atti-

“Football is a main
priority for the
community again.
They have rallied
around the team even
more this year. It’s
been overwhelming
and I love it.”
IAN WHITTINGTON,
OAK GLEN HEAD COACH

tude at his alma mater under the guidance of Filberto.
While playing football at West
Liberty University, Whittington made
return trips home and was disappointed
in the losing culture that had developed
around the Bears. However, he says
things have changed now in a major
way.
“They weren’t having much success
and because of that they weren’t getting
the full support of the community,”
Whittington said. “People would go to
the games, but it was more of just something to do.
“Over the last three years, that attitude has changed. It’s not just another
season anymore. Now, we expect to

compete and win. Football is a main
priority for the community again. They
have rallied around the team even more
this year. It’s been overwhelming and I
love it.”
Whittington is also a realist. He
understands that he will encounter
many firsts as he begins his head coaching career and that there will be plenty
of bumps along the way.
“I’ve never really had to deal with
referees,” he said. “That makes me a little nervous. And some of the management of the team behind the scenes and
dealing with the media. Those are
things I haven’t really experienced yet.”
Despite his minor reservations,
Whittington isn’t dampening his expec-

tations. He believes this Oak Glen team
is built to win, and win now.
“Everything I’ve done in my life,
I’ve always expected the best,” he said.
“If we don’t win, I failed as a coach. I
expect that attitude from my team, so I
expect it from myself even though it’s
my first year.”
Whittington said he couldn’t feel
more at home coaching the Bears. He is
in a place he loves and football is the
sport he loves.
“I’ve been a multi-sport guy, but
everything comes back to football for
me,” he said. “I love that you have to be
tough, mentally and physically. I love
the camaraderie, the fact that everyone
has to do their job and back up their
teammates. There’s so many factors
that bring me back to football. It’s the
love of my life.”

Bears notes

In high school, as well as being a
starting wide receiver and defensive
back, Whittington also won a 140pound state wrestling title and qualified
for the state track meet in two relays. …
At West Liberty, Whittington started
22 consecutive games at defensive
back. He was a team captain for the
Hilltoppers, academic All-American,
All-Conference, led the team in tackles
in back-to-back seasons and led the
nation in interception return yardage.
… Whittington, who has a five-year-old
daughter, also previously coached
wrestling and track at Oak Glen Middle
School.

place up. It’s a top-level facility. It’s as
good as it gets, like playing in a college
atmosphere.”
Oak Glen will be relying on its 15
seniors to try to post another winning
season.
“If people think we’re going to drop
off, that’s fine with me,” Whittington
said. “We can fly under the radar all
day long. What they don’t realize is
that, yes we’re losing our top three
offensive players, but we return our
entire offensive line and we’re loaded
with seniors. They’re going to carry us
and I can’t wait to see this team on the
field.”
They will open the season against
Edison on Aug. 23 at Steubenville’s
Harding Stadium.
“I think we have a very tough road
ahead of us with our schedule, but I
believe we can win each one of them,”
Whittington said. “People will be gunning for us because of the success we
had last year, but we’re ready for the
challenge.”

The Golden Bears have a new coach,
a new stadium and a new team.
The Oak Glen Multisports Complex
on the school’s campus will replace
Newell Memorial Stadium, which was
the Golden Bears’ home field since
1963.
“I renamed it the ‘Bears’ Den’ and it
seemed to stick,” Whittington said.
“It’s an amazing feeling to open this

The confidence is building as
Minerva is coming off the winningest
season in school history.
The Lions won 11 games, including
their first playoff victory, and wore the
Northeastern Buckeye Conference
crown.
“We are very excited about our football team,” Soles said. “Our kids have
been working very hard and they are
very coachable. Staying healthy will
be the key for us this year.”

The numbers are up at Minerva, but
not the experience. The Lions feature
13 seniors, 11 juniors and 17 sophomores, but return only two starters
from the high-powered offense.
“Depth is probably our biggest
weakness on either side of the ball this
year,” Soles said. “We have some very
good kids and they are working
extremely hards for us and getting after
it, but we need to stay healthy.
Inexperience is also a weakness that
we need to overcome early in the season.”
The Lions have won 11 games in a
row at home and 16 of their last 21
games in the NBC.
“The NBC is a great football league,
and it will continue to produce great
football teams,” Soles said. “Every
team in our league plays very good
solid football, and they are capable of
beating any of the other teams in our
league.”

5-5, including a 3-4 mark in the
Northeastern Buckeye Conference. The
Quakers have won 19 of their last 26
regular-season games.

Head Coach

Ron Johnson enters his first season as
head coach. He was the head coach at
Canton McKinley the last four seasons,
going 31-16 and making the playoffs all
four years. He also had head coaching
stints with Yellow Springs (13-17),
Westlake (16-24) and Middletown (1317). From 1991-2000, he was a running
backs coach and assistant head coach at
the University of Miami (Ohio).

The Quakers have no one returning in
the backfield after last year’s quarterback, Jake Carner, was moved to the
secondary.
“We’re yery young on offense,”
Johnson said. “We have just two seniors on the offensive side of the ball.
We’re also very young at quarterback. I
believe we’ll grow every week.”
3-stack.

Johnson feels at home in Salem
By MICHAEL S. BURICH
Assistant Sports Editor

SALEM — When coach Ron
Johnson takes the field with the Salem
Quakers on Friday at Youngstown
Liberty, he’ll be a long way from
intense scrutiny and controversy that
followed him at Canton McKinley at
the end of last football season.
Call it a fresh start for the 47-yearold coach.
“It was something I researched,”
Johnson said. “I saw the kind of people
that were in place over here in the
administration and what the community was like. It was a place that had a
core set of values and seemed like a
great place to raise a family.”
Johnson spent four seasons at the
Division I power going 31-16 with
four trips to the playoffs. Johnson’s
McKinley teams were also 3-2 against
rival Massillon.
His career at McKinley ended early
this year when the school board voted
3-2 not to renew his contract. The
move by the board was highly controversial as the superintendent of Canton

“Football is a main
priority for the
community again.
They have rallied
around the team even
more this year. It’s
been overwhelming
and I love it.”
RON JOHNSON,
SALEM HEAD COACH

schools had recommended his renewal.
Members of the board who voted
against his renewal cited lack of communication with player parents and the
community as reasons for his dismissal.
Supporters of Johnson tried in vain
to save his job at McKinley, but that all

came apart in February as Canton
schools went in another direction.
Word got out that Johnson was looking for another position and Salem
jumped on the chance to interview the
veteran coach after Mike Kopachy
resigned on May 7 after three seasons
and two playoff appearances as head

SALEM WELDING
& SUPPLIES
475 Prospect St. • Salem, OH

330-332-4298

“GOOD LUCK AREA TEAMS”

Sanor
Insurance Agency

RUN INTO
ANYONE
NEW
LATELY???
Then run on over to...

coach.
Johnson was hired on May 24.
“(The field) still 120 by 53 1/3,”
Johnson said about moving down to a
smaller program. “The game doesn’t
change. It doesn’t matter if you’re running out in front of 110,000 or are
here. The fundamentals of the game are
the same. The objective is the same.”
Johnson, who played football at
Triad High School near Urbana, Ohio,
started his high school coaching career
at Yellow Springs in 1988.
He spent three seasons there going
13-17 before departing for a position
in the college game at Miami (Ohio)
where he served as a running backs
coach and assistant head coach. That
lasted until 2000 — which was Ben
Roethlisberger’s red shirt freshman
season.
“He was a tall, skinny kid who didn’t
put shoulder pads on the whole year
because he hurt his shoulder in the
North-South game,” Johnson said. “We
all knew he was going to be a pretty
talented player though.”
See JOHNSON, Page 29B

6.8 points in their five wins and 31.8
points in the five losses last season.
“That’s where the maturity is on this
team,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of
speed. We’re going to pressure and
force the issue.”

Even though Salem returns 17 letterwinners, only a few of them were
starters last season.
“The kids are working hard, They are
really committed to improving and
playing good football,” Johnson said.
“The strong point will be the effort.
We have an attitude that will allow us
to be successful.”
The Quakers know how to win. The
22 wins over the last three season are
the most at Salem since going 23-6
from 1959-61.
Johnson is quite familiar with the
Northestern Buckeye as his teams at
Canton McKinley had many interactions with their smaller neighbors.
“We went against those teams in 7on-7 and had scrimmages,” Johnson
said. “There are a lot of really good
coaches in the league. It’s going to be a
real challenge.
“Minerva is the team to beat until
someone knocks them off.”

Zeigler’sTrophies
LLC

Laser Engraving
Available!
Mon.-Fri. 9:30-5:00;
Saturday 9:30-1:00

Terry and Ray Gatrell - Owner

zeiglerstrophies@sbcglobal.net

160 S. Broadway, Salem, Ohio

330-332-4457

PARTY ROOM AVAILABLE CAPACITY UP TO 100
On Broadway
Salem, Ohio

24

30 WINGS AND $
SHEET PIZZA...........

99

HOTLINE TO REAL FOOD 330-337-3872
EAT IN OR TAKE OUT

Johnson, who played outside linebacker at Wittenberg University, got
back into the high school game in
2001 when he was hired as the head
coach at Westlake.
He spent four seasons there going
16-24. A three-season stint at
Middletown (13-17) followed before
he began his tenure at Canton
McKinley in 2008.
While a rivalry game with
Massillon isn’t in the cards this season, he’s been made well aware of
Salem’s long-standing rivalry with
West Branch.
“As I sit here I know there’s 73
days until we play it,” Johnson said.
“I hope we will be having a lot of fun
when we get to that day.”
Johnson, who recently moved into
Salem, will be a business applications
and financial life skills teacher at the
high school.
He and his wife, Amy, have two
boys, Turner, 11, and Jackson, 7.

The Warriors will look for Brenden
Wells, the leading rusher the past two
seasons, to carry the load.
“We want to be able to run the football,” Dota said. “We want to play with
a physical presense to do that. One of
the things we wanted to work on is our
drop-back pass game.”

Basic defensive formation
Multiple 4-3.

Defensive outlook

“We got a lot of returning starters
back,” Dota said. “I hope we can show
up this year in week 1 and gang tackle.
We need to play more physical than our
opponent does.

WEEK ONE
Aug. 23
Poland at Marlington
Friday, Aug. 24
West Branch at Kirtland
Salem at Liberty
Minerva at Mogadore Field
Louisville at Canfield
Canton Central Catholic at
Alliance
Carrollton at Mapleton
Canton South at Akron Coventry
———
WEEK TWO
Friday, Aug. 31
New Philadelphia at West Branch
Salem at United
Louisvlle St. Thomas at Minerva
Canfield at Alliance
Marlington at Crestwood
Louisville at North Canton Hoover
Edison at Carrollton
Medina Buckeye at Canton South
———
WEEK THREE
Friday, Sept. 7
Streetsboro at West Branch
Niles at Salem
Minerva at Tuslaw
Alliance at Akron Ellett
Marlington at Louisville St.
Thomas
Ravenna at Louisville
Claymont at Carrollton
Canton South at Northwest
———
WEEK FOUR
Friday, Sept. 14
Alliance at West Branch
Carrollton at Salem
Minerva at Canton South
Louisville at Marlington

WEEK FIVE
Friday, Sept. 21
West Branch at Carrollton
Marlington at Salem
Minerva at Louisville
Canton South at Alliance
———
WEEK SIX
Friday, Sept. 28
West Branch at Minerva
Salem at Canton South
Alliance at Louisville
Carrollton at Marlington
———
WEEK SEVEN
Friday, Oct. 5
Canton South at West Branch
Alliance at Salem
Minerva at Marlington
Louisville at Carrollton
———
WEEK EIGHT
Friday, Oct. 12
West Branch at Louisville
Salem at Minerva
Carrollton at Alliance
Marlington at Canton South
———
WEEK NINE
Friday, Oct. 19
West Branch at Marlington
Louisville at Salem
Alliance at Minerva
Canton South at Carrollton
———
WEEK TEN
Friday, Oct. 26
Salem at West Branch
Minerva at Carrollton
Marlington at Alliance
Canton South at Louisville

Morning Journal/Wayne Maris

Marlington senior Dymonte Thomas, shown during a win over Salem last
season, has verbally committed to the University of Michigan. He picked
the Wolverines over the likes of Ohio State, Notre Dame and UCLA.
Thomas and Marlington will play at Salem on Sept. 21.

This could be a make or break season
at West Branch.
The Warriors have eight wins in the
last three seasons and have had three
straight losing seasons for the first time
since 1982.
“We must believe in the system and
each other before anything is possible,”
Dota said. “We want to start where we
left off last season and move at a faster
pace — one game at a time.
The experienced senior class, which

includes eight multi-year letterwinners,
is back for a final chance to try to have
that special season.
“Some of those guys are three year
letterman,” Dota said. “I talked to those
guys, all we have to do is take it week
by week. No game is more improtatnt
thatn the other.”
Dota liked what he swa in the preseason.
“We’re about where we need to be,”
he said. “We still need to take steps. As
long as we continue to do that and get
better each week, we give ourselves a
chance to be successful.”
Dota said the Warriors had some
minor injuries, but expect to be fully
recovered by the season opener.
“One of the keys of being successful
is being healthy,” he said. “We’ve got
to have backups ready if we need
them.”
If all goes right, look for West Branch
to challenge Marlington, Louisville and
Minerva for the Northeastern Buckeye
Conference title.
“Marlington and Minerva is up
there,” Dota said. “Louisville and probably we’re in that mix, too. But we’ve
got to take th proper steps to do that.”

High school players must sit when helmet comes off
Special to the Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — High school football players must sit out one play this season if their helmet comes off while the
ball is live.
In cases where the helmet comes completely off without it being directly attributable to a foul by the opponent, the player will have to leave the game for at least
one down.
This addition to Rule 3-5-10 was one
of eight rules changes approved by the
National Federation of State High School
Associations (NFHS) Football Rules
Committee at its Jan. 20-22 meeting in
Indianapolis. All rules changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board
of Directors.
“The committee made this rules change
after reviewing data from multiple states
regarding the frequency of helmets coming off during live-ball play,” said Julian
Tackett, chair of the Football Rules Committee and commissioner of the Kentucky

High School Athletic Association. “It is
the committee’s hope that this serves
notice for schools to properly fit players
with helmets to reduce the incidence of
these situations and remind the players not
to take steps that alter the fit.”
Another significant change next season
will be a new interpretation of a legal catch.
A receiver now will be required to establish
possession of the ball and contact the
ground inbounds while maintaining possession — regardless of the opponent’s action.
“In previous years, the covering official
could have ruled that an airborne player
attempting to catch the ball would have
come down inbounds, but was prevented
from doing so because of contact by the
opponent,” said Bob Colgate, NFHS
director of sports and sports medicine and
liaison to the Football Rules Committee.
“Now, the player must establish possession and contact the ground inbounds for
a legal catch.”
The Football Rules Committee also

cleared the way for state associations and
their member schools to place corporate
advertising and/or commercial markings
on the field of play. These types of markings previously were only allowed in the
end zones and outside the field.
Rule 1-2-3l will state that while corporate advertising and/or commercial markings will be allowed, the markings may
not obstruct the yard lines, hash marks or
9-yard marks.
A risk-minimization change was made
to Rule 2-3-7 that changes an interpretation for blocking below the waist.
“The previous interpretation was that it
was not a foul for a player to block below
the waist if the hand(s) of the opponent
was first contacted below the waist,” Colgate said. “This revision changes that
interpretation and stipulates that such
action is a foul.”
After experimentation in Minnesota
and Iowa, the committee revised Rule 93-8 to prohibit members of the kicking

team from initiating contact (blocking)
against members of the receiving team
until the ball has broken the plane of the
receiving team’s restraining line, or until
the kicking team is eligible to recover the
free kick.
The other three rules changes approved
by the committee include Rule 1-5-3c(8),
which expands the list of illegal equipment to include play cards that are not
worn on the wrist or arm, as well as Rule
9-4-3h, which now states that grasping
the tooth and mouth protector, as well as
the face mask, is a foul. Also, to provide
guidance to game officials, the committee
clarified Rule 9-4-3k by adding the direction in which the opponent was pulled
during a horse-collar.
Finally, the NFHS decided to extend
the effective date of its new glove rule
from 2012 to 2013. During the 2012
season, both gloves meeting the current
standard and gloves meeting the new standard will be legal for play.

NentwickCareCenter

Specialized
In Skilled,
Longterm,
and
Rehabilitative
Care

Since 1951

“Providing A High Standard of Daily Living with A
Constant Regard For Integrity & Personal Dignity.”